There are many reasons why comedy is Ariana Ross’ passion.
“I love to make people laugh and laugh myself, but I wouldn’t call myself a comedian because I don’t like to perform,” she said. “Comedy has just always been a really big part of my life. I think things are depressing right now, and laughing is important.”
It’s also important to Ross that the internet comedians she loves get paid fairly for their work. After hearing some of her favorite creators speaking out about how hard it is to make a living putting their comedy on internet platforms such as YouTube, Ross began to imagine a different business model that would get creators paid better. The result is her startup Actually Good.
“Comedy is a really powerful tool for social and political change, and if Actually Good could be a part of that, it would be amazing."
The subscription video platform supports and showcases rising video comedians. While she is still building out the technology herself, Ross hopes to launch the platform in 2019. Actually Good will be ad-free and feature video creators hand-picked by Ross, who considers herself an internet comedy aficionado. The creators are paid upfront for their video production.
Ross is a 2017 Venture for America fellow. The nonprofit connects recent college graduates and young entrepreneurs to cities with growing startup ecosystems. VFA provides fellows with the training necessary to land jobs at local startups, where they work to gain vital skills to grow their own startups. Originally from Connecticut, Ross came to Cincinnati to work as a video producer for Growella and plans to remain in Cincinnati after her fellowship to continue growing Actually Good.
Actually Good won third place in Venture for America’s 2018 Innovation Fund, an annual crowdfunding competition. The prize money from the competition, in addition to an Indiegogo campaign, helped Ross reach her goal of raising $12,000, which will serve as the initial capital to pay creators for video production.
Ross hopes paying her creators fairly for their work will change internet comedy. While she admires the way the internet has democratized comedy and amplified the voices of those who may not have been heard otherwise, Ross recognizes the negative aspects creators face when posting their content online.
For example, YouTube creators earn a portion of the revenue from advertisements placed on their videos, and this number grows with the more views a video gets. In order to get more views and thus get paid adequately for a video, creators may feel the need to cater their content towards what is trending on YouTube.
“There is a lot of problems with this system, because creators feel pigeonholed into having to create trending content and always having to be on the forefront of what trends are so they’ll show up high in the search results,” Ross said. “You have to become a business person on top of being a creative person."
“With Actually Good, I was trying to think of a way I could pay creators and they could make what they want and not worry about the amount of views, getting a sponsorship, or advertisers and just make good content because that’s what their fans want from them,” she added.
Ross also supports Actually Good creators in their video production, such as video editing and making a production schedule. By keeping her lineup of creators small and specially selecting the creators featured on Actually Good, Ross is able to provide more one-on-one attention to her creators.
“I’m really hoping that I can find these creators that are really talented and give them that boost they deserve so that they can get paid and gain a larger audience,” she said.
Ross is currently working with three creators who are in the midst of creating new content for Actually Good. They include Internet Jules, a comedy-themed singer-songwriter; Tom Simmermaker, a former Vine star who has an absurd sense of humor; and BOYansey Effect, a sketch duo that makes parody videos.
Ross wants to expand the Actually Good content offering, so she digs through the internet to find hidden-gem creators with lots of potential. She is currently creating a new system for onboarding new creators.
“I definitely want someone with a unique voice, someone who doesn’t want to necessarily make what’s trending,” she said. “Comedy is a really powerful tool for social and political change, and if Actually Good could be a part of that, it would be amazing. If Actually Good can amplify peoples’ voices who would have never had a chance otherwise, I think that’s a win.”
Editor's Note: Ross was named one of Cincy Inno's 25 Under 25.
